Trafalgar's hands shook against the solid door in front of him as he swung it open. He tried his best to steel himself and hide the fear on his face. Everything was so close to being okay. All he had to do was grab Corazon and run. Run fast and far. A sliver of silver moon light highlighted the tall outline of the man waiting on the rooftop. Law squinted in the dark trying to make out what he could of Corazon. It'd be hard to sign in this low light he mused. Law opted to speak out loud, ready to carry the conversation until they were somewhere well lit. Somewhere that wasn't still in Doflamingo's territory.
"I'm back." He gave an awkward greeting. Not that Cora could really say much to it. More like, just announcing to the shadow covered figure who it was so he knew it was safe. "I got the money but we need to gun it. I think they might come running after us real quick." Law lowered his gaze off to the side, a free hand scratching at the back of his head. "I might have bumped into Baby Five. It'll be fine though. We just gotta go now."
Law took a few steps onto the rooftop and held his hand out looking at the moon lit man. "Well, you coming?"
"Hey, hey." A voice echoed off the thick night air. "Were you really trying to run away?" The massive figure stepped forward, just close enough that the shadows retreated from his more notable features. The tall, hairy slob of a man loomed over the young teen. Trebol's smile cracked his face just like Doflamingo's would do when trying to hide his menacing thoughts.
The teen let out a surprised shout and tried to step back, instead tripping on nothing but air. He fell butt first against the hard concrete. "WHA-"
"You really shouldn't underestimate the young boss. He figured you might try something like this after today's fiasco." The hulking figure jutted an arm out and clamped down hard around Law's upper arm. "It's dumb, don't you think?" He laughed a loud, spit riddled laugh. "Hey, Doflamingo is waiting for you. Hey, hey get up." Law could feel the air become suffocating in his lungs. Rocks filled his chest as the very colour poured from his face. Pure, unfiltered fear consumed him and left him ice cold.
"Where... where's Cora?"
"He's already with Doflamingo. Better hurry, we're late to the get together." Again he laughed that disgusting laugh that grated against Law's ears.
The young teen was helpless against the large man who pulled him to his feet and dragged him back to the horrible building. Trebol's dirty finger nails bit into Law's skin as his vice-like clamped hand dragged him behind. Law didn't have the power to fight back, not to scream or struggle, not even to try to shake loose and run away from everything that awaited him.
What was waiting for him? It had to be death at this point. Even his scientific knowledge couldn't save him this time. Not with Doffy becoming so cross over his imperfect reproductions of the drug. A cold sweat broke out over this entire being as the bright florescent lights flooded out the glass entrance doors they pushed through. The familiar lobby air burned his lungs as he struggled to breath, to ground himself.
"I-I don't want to go." His voice shakily wormed its way out. "Please Trebol!" Law started to thrash around with what little strength he could muster. He fought against the iron clad grip on his arm as the elevator dinged it's way down the building. Each bell bringing it closer. "PLEASE LET ME GO!" Trafalgar screamed as his whole body revolted. Tears burned his eyes and cheeks as his voice broke in fear. The shrill command echoed off the dark wooden walls around them. The man working the desk turned a blind eye as he continued with his normal work day. "STOP!" He screeched out as the elevator doors slid open seamlessly.
The tall commander just stepped inside as casually as any other day, dragging the struggling boy behind him. It was painful how hopeless Law felt knowing there was such a huge gap in power between the two of them. "NO! LET GO!" His voice cracked more as he reached out for his last possible chance of freedom. His entire life resided outside the closing metal doors. He let out a long, deep yell as the door sealed shut and the elevator started to ascend. Shaking knees collapsed under him as all hope fell out of his grasp. Trebol loosened his bruising grip and left the teen sobbing on the floor.
"Hey, hey, face it like a man. You're old enough to own up to your decisions." Trebol let out a wispy snicker. "This wouldn't have happened if the boss had just given you to me when you joined. Maybe you can be my pet if you lick his shoes." The man let out a guttural laugh. "I'll still take you if you live."
Unsteady hands clutched at the front of his fancy vest, trying to quell the churning in his stomach. Law was going to be sick. He was going to faint. His head spun and buzzed and the whole world was somehow more quiet than he had ever heard before. Tears still fell down his face, splashing onto the tiled floor under him.
Law couldn't find the time to ground himself or even stand up again before the doors gracefully slid open onto the carpeted hallway. He barely kept up as Trebol pulled him down the hall, up some stairs, and into another elevator. His grey eyes watched shakily as the numbers counted upwards, finally landing on the highest floor. These doors opened up to the familiar black tiled hallway that paved the way to Doflamingo's meeting room.
Trebol pulled the teen to his quaking feet and stood him tall in front of the large black oak doors they had entered so many times before. "Please?" His voice shakily pleaded as the two faced the doors. The large commander answered by pushing the doors open and shoving the teen in first. Law's balance all but gave up on him again as he stumbled into the room. Pitch black tiles covered the floor and walls, sapping any colour or comfort from the room. The pink tulle hanging in waves from the ceiling seemed like it had lost of lot of it's vibrancy. Even the shining fairy lights that hid in the fabric lost their luster. The reflective sparkling dots in the black tiles looked less like stars sparkling in the night and more like the mind-numbing lights that pierced the quiet seclusion when one closed their eyes too tight.
Up, atop all of the stairs and above all the other chairs in the room sat Doflamingo. His face was strained and veins popped in his forehead as he wore that unnerving smile. "Come here." He instructed through grit teeth. Trebol pushed the boy forward once again, forcing his legs to carry himself up the first set of stairs. He stood, small and frightened on the lowest platform just in front of the couch he often visited before. His knees knocked under him, barely supporting the fear and anxiety weighing him down.
"Closer." Doflamingo commanded again, his hand beckoning the boy up the next set of stairs. His feet fumbled as he climbing the untouched stairs up to the commander's level. The four prominent chairs stood taller than him on this platform. Even though he was further up, he somehow felt that much smaller in the large man's presence. Doflamingo's fingers called him closer as he motioned the boy forward again. Law hesitated but saw that horrifying twitch in the boss's smile. He quickly obliged and closed the gab between the two of them. He stood on the top platform just inches in front of the laid back gangster. Trafalgar's entire body threatened to turn to liquid and fall out from existence. The air around them was burning hot and dense, nearly impossible to breath.
The incredibly tall man leaned forward in his throne leaving mere centimeters between their faces as he spoke. "Is it true you were going to run away with my little brother Corazon?" Law stood shaking, too fearful to muster a lie. He simply shook his head up and down agreeing to the statement.
"Do you know how lucky you are?" This next question took Law by surprise.
"Lucky? Lucky!? How so?" The teen spit out fire and rage in his words. "My parents are dead thanks to you. I've been living as a slave making drugs to survive just so I can grow up as another fucked up orphan under your rule!" Law couldn't contain his years of anger any more. He had so much to say to this cruel man in front of him. Might as well do it now and die without regret. "You are the very reason I am the most unlucky child alive. You stripped my family away from me. My parents! MY SISTER! You-!"
A hard hand grasped tightly at the collar of Law's nice button up shirt. The air was ripped away from his lungs as he stood on his toes trying to fight against the choke hold Doflamingo had on him. The man sat straight up lording how tall he was over the small teen boy. His eyes spelled out murder behind the fake smile plastered on his face. "You already know Corazon is the one who killed your parents. Don't mistake me for the villain here, boy."
"Under your order." Law bit out between struggling for breath and his hands clasping around Doffy's trying to rip him off.
"I gave you a home and all the books you could ever read. I even turned a blind eye when you spent time and resources working on other things." Law's face dropped a bit realizing that his hidden projects weren't so hidden. "Don't think me so dumb to not notice the missing chemicals. I've been more than tolerant to you, but my brother however, hasn't." The mob bosses's hands released the struggling boy and let him drop down to the hard tiles under him.
"What do you-" Law's question was hushed by a sharp bout of coughing as his lungs struggled to fill back up.
"HE burned your house down unnecessarily. HE brought you back here and asked to have you under his care. HE wanted you to work with him in his line of work. Corazon, has been raising you and watching you. He's the one to blame for everything you cry about."
"It's not like that. He-he's not like that." Law sputtered out.
"No? Did you know he was growing scared of you. He wanted to watch you loose your innocence and grow up like him, just another broken man. He loved seeing you become more heartless and twisted every day. I guess you started to worry him though, since he decided to try and kill you."
"Kill me?" Law's face furrowed. "He never tried to."
"Oh? Not that you noticed." Doflamingo finally stood up from his throne and walked down the stairs to the small coffee table on the lower landing near all the other chairs and couches. His hand clutched at the bag Law had been wearing all day. "Didn't you find it strange that you were right next to the target you were supposed to assassinate and not given any means of accomplishing that mission?"
"The old lady?" Law asked as he got up to his feet and followed the large man down the stairs. He kept some distance as his eyes glared down at Doffy.
"You usually have a gun, don't you? I've heard you're quite good with it. So why did you not have one with you this time?"
"Too suspicious..." Law quietly defended.
"Was it? Or was that just a cleaver cover up?" The tall man upended the bag and let all the useless crap tumble out onto the table. "Not even a pen to use if all else failed. No means of killing or make-shift weaponry. Someone as smart as you could have used simple stuff if it came down to it. So why is there only a mug and some dirty clothes?"
"Corazon was... we had already decided to escape...?" Law asked in return. That didn't sound quite right, but it had to be the answer.
"Not even close." Doflamingo turned the bag inside out and tore at the inner lining, which gave away fairly easily under the stress. There, under the fabric, was a small device wired up and glowing a soft red. The gangster pulled it free with little effort and showed Law the item. The teen stood in confusion, not wanting to speculate. "This is a bomb. A pretty strong one too. Could level a whole city block if it went off. Guess where we found the detonator?"
Law simple looked down in shock as his eyes scanned the explosive. He didn't know a lot but it did look like what he'd been taught a bomb looks like. One of the lower gangsters, the one who actually looked the part, he had shown Law a few before. It didn't quite look the exact same as Senior's though.
Doflamingo tinkered with the device and pulled the wires loose, the dim red light went out and sat inactive in his hands. "There was a wireless detonation device that was with Corazon. You're lucky one of my men spotted him on the roof before you both ran off. You almost died by his hands."
"Corazon wouldn't... he couldn't..." Law's jaw opened and closed trying to find the words.
"He was going to murder you in cold blood. Probably make it look like something happened to you at the rally today and come back empty handed." Doflamingo placed the bag back on the table and walked over to meet Law on the stairs. "You almost died tonight because you entertained some fantasy that the mad man cared about you and let him paint me as the villain!" Large hands grasped at Law's vest once again, this time shaking him slightly instead of the choke hold from earlier.
"We almost lost you!" Doflamingo's face fell with the last sentence. The ever present smile gone with out a trace. His hands clung to Law, pulling the confused teen into an embrace. "I'm sorry my misguided brother did all this to you. I didn't know he'd go this far."
"I-I don't." Law's voice shook as his face twisted. "I don't believe this. Corazon would never."
"I can prove it." Doffy's voice was far more certain as it hissed in the boy's ear. He tore away from the self-imposed hug and over to Trebol. He spoke a few words and within minutes, the large black oak doors swung open with the younger brother in tow.
Vergo led the beaten and battered man into the black room. Trebol gave a loud laugh as the tall man fell to his knees, barely able to stay vertical. His face was swelling and blood seeped from a multitude of cuts. The man with the odd beard thread his hands through the long curling blond locks and forcefully pulled his head back. Corazon's eyes fell solemnly on Law.
The teen's legs worked before anything else did and he rushed over to the bruised man. Hands wrapped around him as concerned words passed his lips. The confusion and worry clouded his mind but the doctor in him prompted him to treat the wounds. Hands wiped haphazardly at the streams of blood that had crusted on the man's face. Tears dotted the teens eyes as he looked over what had become of the man who showed him any love.
"Don't worry about him, he tried to kill you, remember?" Doflamingo walked over to the three men by the door with the bag in hand.
"You can't prove it was him. He wouldn't kill me! Corazon wouldn't even think of it." Law bit back. His resolve seemed more solid with the dad-like figure in the room with him. There was a need to protect, to believe, lighting a fire in his chest. His hands grasped tighter at the bloody figure.
The mob boss stared down at the weak man, their eyes speaking novels between the two of them. The contempt was palpable. Finally Doflamingo threw the bag down forcefully next to his brother. Corazon's body tensed up, every muscle preparing for the explosion. Fear engulfed him. Seconds passed before he opened his eyes and stared at the bag. It was torn and now empty. No threat at all.
"He tried to blow you up with a bomb that he had planted. Why else would be have been so scared by the bag?" Doflamingo accused. That horrible smile wormed its way back on his face as he stared down. "See Law, this mad man has been dragging you around for years, telling you lies, and turning you against me just so he could have the pleasure of killing you."
"You're wrong." Law's eyes laid on the bag next to them before skimming up Corazon's frame. It was nearly unnoticeable, but Corazon had tried to put himself between Law and the bag. Maybe a flinch, but it conveyed so much more than what Doflamingo thought. "How did you know where the bomb was?" The teen released his grip on his protector and stood up to his full five feet. "You put it there. You lied to me and tried to turn me against your own brother."
Doflamingo's face twitched and his smile faltered for just a second.
"You knew what it was, where it was, and you even turned it off with no effort. But why did you lie? Why cause all this drama when you're going to kill us anyway?" Law shook in his shoes but continued to stare down the large man.
"Entertainment." The word snaked out of the man's lips like a hard smack in the face. "I was going to push you into killing Corazon with your own hands. How darkly humorous it would be watching him die by the gun he hated seeing you wield. To have the boy he cared for and loved to take his life in a moment of cold cruelty. But you couldn't be bothered to play along."
Doflamingo closed the space between them and slammed a fist into Law's small stomach. The boy crumpled and fell down violently. Corazon strained against Vergo's grip in a failed attempt to catch the fallen teen. "You know, I may have even let you live, festering in guilt afterwards. If only you were a good little boy." The tall man brought down his long leg and kicked the teen in his chest, knocking any lingering air out of his lungs. "A real piece of shit ruining my fun." Doffy muttered as another kick connected and sent the boy's body sliding along the tile floor.
"A man who loved like a father, killed by his adoptive son. It was going to be so lovely. Something to keep in mind for a lifetime!" The mob boss sauntered across the room and picked Law up by the back of his head, hair strained in his grip. He pulled back and slammed the kid's head into the wall with so much force it broke a tile. Law could feel the heat of blood rushing out of his wounds and down his face. His nose felt off and pain seeped through his entire body. "You know, the only thing I can think of that's almost as good, is a wanna be father watching his little son go through the worse day of his life and not being able to do anything."
Doflamingo stood up, fingers still wrapped in black locks. His head twisted to look over at the angry and weeping Corazon. "You know... that doesn't sound like a bad idea now."
